This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Vehicles such as automobiles typically include one or more airbags that work in conjunction with one another and with other safety systems to absorb or otherwise dissipate energy associated with an impact event away from occupants of the vehicle. For example, a vehicle such as an automobile may incorporate one or more front airbags mounted in a steering wheel or instrument panel of the vehicle that absorb energy associated with a front-impact event. Likewise, a vehicle may additionally incorporate a side airbag in a door, pillar and/or seat assembly of the vehicle in an effort to absorb energy associated with a side-impact event.
Vehicles also include seatbelt assemblies that work in conjunction with inflatable restraints such as front airbags and side airbags. In fact, some seatbelt assemblies incorporate an inflatable portion that works in conjunction with the seatbelt assembly to absorb forces associated with an impact event and/or to direct such forces into the structure of the vehicle and away from vehicle occupants.
Seatbelt assemblies that have an integral inflatable portion or an airbag attached to webbing of the seatbelt assembly typically include a shoulder-mounted retractor that selectively allows the webbing to payout from the retractor so that the webbing can be properly positioned relative to a vehicle occupant. Such seatbelt assemblies also include an inflator that provides pressurized gas to the inflatable portion or the airbag and a fill tube that delivers the pressurized gas from the inflator to the inflatable portion or the airbag.
One end of the fill tube is typically placed over an end of the inflator and the other end of the fill tube is inserted into the inflatable portion or the airbag. The fill tube may be stiffer and thicker than the inflatable portion or the airbag. Thus, the length of the inflatable portion or the airbag through which the fill tube extends may be less flexible and thicker than the remaining length of the inflatable portion or the airbag, which may result in discomfort to the occupant. In addition, the thickness and stiffness of the fill tube may impede extraction and retraction of the seatbelt assemblies. Further, when the fill tube delivers pressurized gas to the inflatable portion or the airbag, the fill tube may back out of the inflatable portion or the airbag. Moreover, the position of the fill tube may change in a manner that causes kinks to develop in the fill tube and/or causes the inflatable portion or the airbag to inflate in an undesired manner.
To prevent the fill tube from back out of the inflatable portion or the airbag, the fill tube may be attached directly to the inner surface of the inflatable portion or the airbag (e.g., using adhesive) at multiple locations along the length of the fill tube. However, the attachments may be stiffer and harder than the inflatable portion or the airbag and therefore may also result in discomfort to the occupant. In addition, the attachments between the fill tube and the inflatable portion or the airbag are subjected to relatively high load when the fill tube delivers the pressurized gas to the inflatable portion. As a result, the attachments between the fill tube and the inflatable portion or the airbag may fail, in which case the fill tube may back out of the inflatable portion or the airbag and/or the position of the fill tube may change in an undesired manner.
Further, the fill tube may not deliver pressurized gas to the inflatable portion or the airbag at the locations where the fill tube is attached to the inner surface of the inflatable portion or the airbag. Thus, the number of directions around the perimeter of the fill tube in which the fill tube distributes the pressurized gas to the inflatable portion or the airbag may be limited due to the attachment between the fill tube and the inflatable portion. For example, the angular range around the perimeter of the fill tube in which the fill tube distributes gas may be less than 360 degrees.